Schools

At Public Meeting, New School Super Qualities Are Hammered Out

BOCES reached out to the community to set a priority of issues and goals that await a new superintendent and the characteristics people want to see in a candidate.

Last month residents came out to an open meeting at hosted by two representatives from Eastern Suffolk BOCES to discuss hiring a new Superintendent for Port Jefferson School District.

Mr. Raymond Fell and Dr. Terri Sweeney explained how BOCES, a cooperative program that provides educational services for 51 school districts in Suffolk County, was contracted by the school board to hire a new Superintendant and gather from the public the key issues and criteria they perceive important in a replacement for Dr. Max Riley who announced his retirement at the beginning of the school year.

The school board contracted BOCES to do a Superintendent search, which is a service that they provide to local districts. The last time Port Jefferson school needed a new Superintendent when Dr. Riley was hired, it used a private search firm.

Find out what's happening in Port Jeffersonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"BOCES is happy to provide the service to its component districts," said Fell. "We want to see our component districts be successful."

After meeting with teachers, administration, the school board and the public, Fell and Sweeney will take their notes and begin a four-week long search for candidates. The job will be posted in the New York Times, Education Week, Monster.com and the websites of the New York State School Board Association, New York State Council of Superintendents and BOCES Administration. They also send out a letter and three applications to every school district superintendent asking them to share them with anyone they think may be good for the position.

Find out what's happening in Port Jeffersonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Overall advertisement will be wide spread," said Fell. "It’s a good cross section of people from city supers to assistant supers."

Typically they received between 35 to 50 applications but they’ve seen as many as 75 for one job and as little as 18. They develop a pool of candidates from the applications.

"Depending on the quality of the pool we may recommend anywhere from 15 down to eight people we feel will be successful candidates," Fell said.

After initial interviews, Fell and Sweeney will make a recommendation to the Port Jefferson School Board of Education for a slate of candidates to interview. They make sure the certifications are in place and do a background check.

"Terry and I will try to get rid of the dead wood," said Fell.

The school board ends up making the final decision.

"Once we give the board a slate of candidates we don’t interview with them," he explained. "We sit with them and give them basic interviewing techniques. Things you can and can’t ask in an interview like questions about health, marriage, kids, age and sexual orientation."

They led the attendees through a process of picking out their top immediate and long-range priorities, issues and needs. They also listed the professional and personal characteristics the public wanted to see in a candidate.

Many people expressed their academic concerns and the managing style of a potential candidate but as expected, much of the conversation turned to how the next Superintendant will deal with the impending budget cuts that will come if LIPA is successful in lowering it’s tax payment on its Port Jefferson power plant.

"If everything is great financially then it’s easy to run a district," said Fell.

He said that in other searches he had conducted the groups had been more concerned with educational outcomes.

"The other economic 'cloud' has made a difference in selection of candidates," he said.

With just over a dozen in attendance that evening, one man commented on the scarcity of people who showed up to the meeting.

"It’s a little upsetting that I didn’t see this place packed," he said.

But Fell assured him the attendance that night was a virtual packed house in comparison to other searches he’s conducted.

"I’ve done 14 searches and this one is a little better than most," he said. "At most there are about two or three people."

After some discussion there were four lists created to guide BOCES in its search for a new Superintendent.

Short-term goals:

  • Become familiar with the culture, values and goals of the district and community. Prioritize the needs of all constituent groups and make recommended solutions.
  • Create modes of communication that keep community members informed and engages in the community in the decision making process. Promote constructive and civil dialog among constituent groups.
  • Improve the education outcomes of the district through the development of a more rigorous curriculum. In light of the investments being made in the district, the community expects the district to maximize student achievement learning and opportunities. Additionally identify solutions that are more cost effective and have been successful in other school districts and considering our students, could they be successful in port Jefferson.
  • Develop innovative solutions to resolve master schedule issues while simultaneously maintaining variety and opportunity for course selection.
  • Develop innovative solutions to resolve master schedule issues while simultaneously maintaining variety and opportunity for course selection.
  • Develop a fiscally responsible budget in light of LIPA, reductions in State Aid and potential for tax cap, to support an educational program valued by the community.
  • Develop a negotiation process that works within the economic constraints as they exist in the district while working within the parameters set by the Board of Education.

Long-range issues/needs to complete in two to five years:

  • Improve the educational outcomes of the district through the development of a more rigorous curriculum.
  • Develop relationships with University and corporations to support research. Internships, obtain funding and other opportunities for students.
  • Sustain ongoing communication with the community and elicit input from community members.

Professional Characteristics:

  • Experience developing master schedule in a district of a similar size.
  • Must be familiar with the goals and values of Port Jefferson.
  • Experience as a classroom teacher. Educator.
  • Experience as a building principal.
  • Must have a degree from a quality university.
  • Proven track record as an effective change manager.

Personal Characteristics:

  • Make a long-term commitment and genuinely care about the students and community.
  • Ability to communicate with people.
  • Good listener and open to various viewpoints
  • Able to compile accurate data and use it effectively in the decision making process
  • Not coming to the district to get rich and can work with a limited expense account
  • Proven record as being a consensus builder and using a collaborative approach to decision making.
  • Trustworthy, honest and respectful
  • Enthusiastic, passionate.
  • Hands on approach
  • Inspire others
  • Dedicated to the district and to the mission of public education
  • Confident to function in an orderly purposeful way. Especially in the face of uncertainty.
  • Responsible and accountable
  • Reliable, determination and follow-through. Does what he/she promises.
  • Tolerant of ambiguity, remain calm and patient.
  • Analytical to examine the while and subsets of any issue
  • Committed to excellence and maintain a high set of standards to raise the bar.
  • Be loyal to the children of the district and supportive of district activities.
  • Professional appearance and polish.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here